April has been insanely busy for me, but I’m back here. I hope you’re all doing alright.
This was a productive month for me, but at the same time I was trying to deal with things involving my own mental well-being especially as more revelations came to me unexpectedly after doing some learning that indirectly affected me (it’s a really long story).
I was focused on certain things and the big one is Camp NaNoWriMo which I completed the word count earlier this week which was good. The other creative things I did were on hold because that takes a ton of dedication.
There were some peaks and valleys over the month which I dealt with. Some good things happened and some infuriating things happened. Sometimes it did get a bit isolating, but it’s 2021 so I think people are used to it by now given last year obviously. However, it was good hearing from people I know online as well as some other bloggers I follow. It was also cool getting exposed to new international films, listening to some international music, and even checking out some fun travel vlogs including one from a country I would’ve never expected from despite never traveling at all recently due to COVID-world.
Of course, that’s not going into the real life current events because I would’ve had so much to say and I was trying not to make my blood boil hearing some of these things. I don’t have to go into too much detail with the things that got a ton of attention or the ones more obscured from both a local and an international standpoint. Well, at least I can say that more people are becoming aware and there’s actually some semblance of accountability going on.
Anyways, sorry for rambling a bit. Sorry I don’t have the typical poems or creative works over here. Hope you’re all safe and well.
Tag Archives: Writing
Contradictions by a Brow
Avant-garde art and experimental films one day
Indie BritWres matches the next
Anime after that
Historical documentaries the day after
Sprinkling some nonfiction books in between
Before delving in manga pages
After writing haikus and fiction concepts in a notebook
Why am I a walking contradiction with these hobbies?
Some various thoughts I’ve been having recently
It has been a crazy busy few weeks. There’s been work and me participating in NaNoWriMo. Of course…there’s been everything else going on in the world especially in America.
Relax, I won’t be talking about anything partisan let alone anything political in this post. I can hear the collective sigh of relief no matter if one is to the left, right, center, independent, or apolitical. With that said, I still have been thinking about serious things nonetheless.
In addition to work and writing another book, I have been having thoughts of so many things going on in my life.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been bullied in my life and at times it was quite severe. In hindsight, some of it was very low-key that psychologically affected me. When I would fight back, I would be treated like the bad guy even though I wasn’t being physical against anyone or insulting them. It made me wonder how docile I was while abusive people get away with everything even when I would call them out on their crap. It’s no wonder I can’t stand those who hurt others with impunity as well as never owning up to their misdeeds. I’ve had to own up to my mistakes and sins, so why couldn’t they? It’s like I’ve been getting bad advice for years from people who should know better. Part of me wondered if I should’ve improved in snappy comebacks or insulting people because I’ve always struggled in that regard. It’s sick how I felt like I wasn’t “allowed” to stand up for myself.
There are times where I wonder if it was worth having certain kinds of dreams and goals. I’m sure I mentioned this in a post earlier this year about random goals I used to have like owning a record label, voice acting, or being a touring musician, etc. I guess with COVID, in a weird way, I’m relieved that i didn’t go forward with those pipe dreams. My goals have changed like getting more into writing as well as videography. I have those skills and it allows me to put them to use. There are other ideas for goals that could be more constructive, but I wondered how possible they would be.
The last movie I saw was a documentary about the Congolese Genocide and Leopold II. It was so heartbreaking and it was one of those historical aspects I wish I learned when I was a lot younger regardless of my DNA results. I learned more things and I certainly was uncomfortable with the brutality. It angers me how Leopold never got punished for being responsible for several millions of people dying under his colonizing rule. It was a powerful watch and I think more people should learn about this atrocity.
Those were various thoughts I had recently. I just had to talk about it instead of just a poem or opinions on a news story. Sorry it wasn’t fun. I hope you understand.
The recording process…
Some of you know I’m working on a full-length album. It’s been a couple of months of writing, recording, and mixing so far even though I have a few songs left to complete the project.
I don’t want to give too much away, but I’ll tell you a few things about this particular album. This will be the first full-length Ospreyshire album. Not an EP or some singles, I mean this is going to have way more songs in it. Much like my previous EPs Verses Vs. Anhedonia or Pathos Formula Wave, this will be a concept project. While I’m not trying to make the next Tommy, The Wall, or anything Coheed & Cambria has done, this will have an overarching theme.
That theme involves innovators and creators…some of whom were ripped off.
The tracks here involve various inventors and artists who have been ignored whether they made live-saving inventions, buildings, or stories that either get overlooked, undermined, or in some cases having their works stolen by undeserving people. This album is an homage to them and most of the time uses the perspective of the original inventors and creators. I really hope to get this fully recorded before the end of the year, Nzambe willing.
Hope you’re doing well.
Speaking of which, do you know about various inventors people should know about? Do you know about inventions we take for granted? How about inventions and patents that were stolen? Do you know any form of art or media that were plagiarized? Which creators deserved better? Share your knowledge in the comments section!
Perhaps I’m mysterious in a good way? I got the Mystery Blogger Award!
Here’s an award I have never been nominated for. It’s the Mystery Blogger Award! I was nominated by Xena at We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident. She’s an incredible blogger and I’m thankful for this nomination. Thanks, Xena! This award was created by Okoto, by the way.
Here are their words about this award:
WHY DID I CREATE THE AWARD?
I created the award because there are a lot of amazing blogs out there that haven’t been discovered, yet. And, most of these blogs deserve recognition. For that reason, I decided to create my own award; and nominate people who can also nominate others; and so on. This is one of the best ways to create a friendly community and build a link between bloggers in the blogosphere; as everyone gets nominated and they too can spread the fun by nominating more people for the award.
I decided to call the award “Mystery Blogger Award.” Why? Because the meaning of my name, “Enigma” is “mystery.” So basically, it’s named after myself; the creator. Plus, I think it’s cool because there are so many blogs that are still a mystery to us; and when we get to know them, it’s divine! And we find friends where we least expect.
WHAT IS MYSTERY BLOGGER AWARD?
“Mystery Blogger Award” is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging; and they do it with so much love and passion.
– Okoto Enigma
Rules:
Put the award logo/image on your blog.
List the rules.
Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Answer the questions from the blogger who nominated you.
Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well
Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
You have to nominate 10 – 20 people
Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog
Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question (specify)
Share a link to your best post(s)
Okay, here we go.
3 things about me:
1. I have been training myself as a multi instrumentalist for over twelve years. I’m no virtuoso by any means, but I do have some proficiency in multiple instruments.
2. I write fiction, but I read mostly nonfiction especially history books.
3. While I’ve been teaching myself Lingala, I have interest in learning other languages from multiple countries.
Answering Questions:
Xena didn’t put any questions in the post, so I’m going to answer the same ones she got when she was nominated by Ilene.
1. Write a haiku about being nominated for a blogger award and title the haiku with the cartoon character with whom you most relate.
Yugo Beppu
Solving mysteries
With the most global mind now
Freeing hostages
2. What’s your superpower and how do you use it for good not evil?
The ability to manipulate time would be great. I can prevent disasters and change the past or future for the better.
3. Do you believe in a spiritual world or some kind of afterlife? If yes describe, if not why do you believe this is all there (not just a one word “no” answer for the atheists nominees)?
I have theistic beliefs and I do believe in an afterlife. My reasons aren’t limited to any religious book and it’s become even more so given some of my beliefs being challenged as of recently (long story). I know not everyone will agree with me on this not am I begging for anyone to do so. There were situations where I should’ve died, but didn’t. There are aspects of history that make way to much sense as things cycle across the vast fabric of time. While science is important, it’s not the end all be all for everything and anything to be explained. However, I don’t judge if anyone is a theist or atheist though.
4. What’s the best place in the world you’ve ever been and why should anyone go there? Convince me. Plane tickets are a good way to convince me. (Joke. The last part.)
I’ve only been to two countries in my life so far. My favorite place I’ve been to would be the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. That was beautiful.
5. What are the top 10 songs that make you feel good when you’re down, or inspire you, or you just love to listen to anytime or all the time.
This is such a tough choice and will be in no particular order. I really have to think about it…
Got to Break It by Arka’n (Togolese metal in your face!)
Show Me the Way by Papa Wemba (That’s a fun song to practice Lingala with)
Through the Night by Masahiko Arimachi (You’re welcome, Outlaw Star fans)
Here I Stand by Dove Slimme
Drop It Again by Rophnan
Kala by Mbongwana Star (#CongoPride)
Hound by Swimteam
Hand Upon My Shoulder by Peter Kruse
Life Is Like a Boat by Rie Fu (I’m not a Bleach fan, but this song is great)
Oops Upside Your Head by The Gap Band (ORIGINAL UPTOWN FUNK!)
6: Share a link of your best post(s).
Three of my best posts so far in my opinion as of recently…
Defensive For What: This was a powerful poem that’s one of my recent favorites I wrote.
Do You (Or Should You) Separate the Artist From the Art?: This was one of the most commented on opinion posts I’ve written. I’m glad I was able to have civil discourse even though I had people who disagreed with me.
How I Learned to Utterly Despise that Expensive Ripoff, Overrated, and Bigoted Movie Called The Lion King (And the Existence of Kimba the White Lion Isn’t the Only Reason): Yes, it’s a rant post, but it was so cathartic getting out my frustrations as to why I have severe issues with The Lion King.
Here are my nominees for this award:
7mononoke
K at the Movies
Jill Dennison
Lumi
Cassonade Media
Brendan Birth
Rodrovich
Villagetalk Avant
Sir Charles the Poet
Moyatori
Here are my questions for my nominees:
1. What makes you an innovative blogger in your field?
2. What are issues that you’re passionate about?
3. Who are three famous people that you would want to have coffee with?
4. Why do you blog and what are your goals for your it?
5. Would you rather own a house that’s attached to an ice cream company or one that’s attached to a chocolate factory? Yes, that’s my required weird/funny question for this award. Haha!
Frustrations in Creativity
It has been a whirlwind of activity.
After working, I relaxed by watching a movie that I will review next month, but I had a realization.
Without going into much detail, things always change. Life can mess up the best laid plans. I had so many things set for several projects over the next few months, but other things happened that I need to address. Some of them have to do with my work and others involve dealing with other life matters that I need to take care of. Don’t worry. It’s nothing troublesome. It’s just busy stuff going on.
I won’t be posting as much content on this blog for the time being, so I can take care of things.
Pardon my dust.
Thank you.
I guess versatility pays off? I’m a recipient of the Versatile Blogger Award!
This has been a positive few days for me. Just recently, I was awarded the Versatile Blogger Award from Raistlin0903. Thank you so much, Raistlin! It’s good to know that I’m a quality blogger and versatile in different subjects whether on this blog or my other ones.
Here are the rules for this particular award:
-Display award
-Thank the person who gave this award (and include a link to their blog)
-Share seven things about yourself
-Nominate bloggers of your choice
Without further ado, let’s get this started!
1. Poetry/Lyrics: Since I’m on the main Ospreyshire blog, I might as well talk about it. I’ve been writing poems and lyrics since I was 11. I didn’t actually write “real” songs until I was older. With my current project, I thought it would be an awesome vehicle to get this artform out there but with an avant-garde edge.
2. Multi-Instrumentalist, but what instrument is missing? I’ve been training to be adept at multiple instruments when it comes to songwriting and performing. Interestingly enough, I have never used a guitar for Ospreyshire. This was on purpose. I don’t hate guitars since it’s one of my better instruments, but I wanted to see what I can create without one of the most common instruments out there.
3. Cinema in multiple languages. Yes, some of you know about my film review blog Iridium Eye. I’ve covered movies from six different continents and dozens of countries around the world. It is a fusion of my love for geography and movies as I wanted to escape the Hollywood doldrums. I’ll spare you a list of every country that’s been covered by Iridium Eye so far, but here’s a list of languages that have been spoken in the movies I’ve reviewed so far. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin, Persian/Farsi, German, Dutch, Amharic, Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, Serbian, Afrikaans, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hindi, Hebrew, Italian, Gaelic, Korean, and Danish. That’s not even counting stuff I haven’t reviewed.
4. Reading (whenever I can). I do enjoy a good book. Interesting fact, I’ve been able to read since I was 1 1/2 years old and I’ve enjoyed reading whenever I could. Granted with work, I haven’t been able to as much. Over the past couple of years, I’ve been reading a ton of non-fiction especially in regards to social issues, geography, lesser-known parts about history, and race relations especially with the African-American and Native American experience. It was fascinating learning about all these subjects and I certainly become more “woke” as the cool people say these days.
5. People think I’m extroverted. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The thing is I do work with a lot of people and I’ve had previous experience with public relations and customer service. I do like being around my friends whenever I can, but I’m really introverted. After dealing with a lot of people, I have to decompress whenever I go home. Even then, I just get on my grind by working on various creative projects like music or fiction or coming up with new content for any of my 4 blogs.
6. My first (real) start at fiction was microfiction. I tried writing stories when I was younger, but I am quite disappointed in the concepts I came up with. When I heard about microfiction (stories under 1000 words) a few years ago, I gave it a try. Some of them are on my writing blog such as this one about an invincible superhero having a bad day, a futuristic story involving people looking at social media accounts from the present, or a story involving a snarky dragoness dealing with a delusional knight. It’s a fun form of writing, and I encourage people to give it a try. If you have the TaleHunt app, you can find me @tocsinchronicle. Just sayin’.
7. I used to be a hardcore gamer, especially fighting games. This was actually a thing going on in my life. To be honest, I haven’t been into current games due to other interests taking precedence, but there was a time I was big into video games. Shoot, I still own a Dreamcast to this day. I was into different genres, but my favorite genre was fighting games. Back in my younger days, I could beat people in games like the first two Marvel Vs. Capcom games, Virtua Fighter, some of the Tekken games, King of Fighters, Power Stone, Project Justice (AKA Rival Schools 2), and various Street Fighter games (SFIII: Third Strike was my favorite and the most underrated game in the franchise). That was my jam back then.
Now that I got this out of the way, I hereby nominate the following bloggers…
Moyatorium
Travel Itineraries
The Drabble
Anime Q & A
Bipolar Online Blog
Medieval Otaku
Karandi
AfroSapiophile
Irina
Lunarian Thoughts
Thank you!
Blogwarming!
It’s Cold Outside – Time for a Blogwarming
Irina from Drunken Anime Blog did a great post about my friend Jeannette Jonic. I think it’s awesome that people are spreading the word about her blog. Please check it out.
Check out Jeannette Jonic at http://jeannettejonic.blogspot.com
Oh, wow! I got the One Lovely Blog Award!
So recently, I received my 2nd award as a blogger on this platform with the Ospreyshire page. Thanks to Scott from Mechanical Anime Reviews for nominating me! I didn’t see that nomination coming. Even though I cover so many topics with anime being one of them with Iridium Eye, I’m glad people still appreciate what I blog about across all my pages.
Here’s how the award works:
1) Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog
2) Add the One Lovely Blog Award to your post
3) Share 7 things about yourself
4) Pass this on to as many people as you like (max 15)
5) Include this set of rules
6) Inform your nominees
Alright then. Without further ado, let me tell you seven things about myself.
1: I have written bios for various musicians.
As you may or may not know about me, I enjoy writing. You know that I write fiction and that I do film reviews on my other blogs. However, I have done some commissioned public relations work for various musicians in different countries. Granted, these are independent artists, but I’ve enjoyed being able to write pieces on various singers and bands. I’ve helped out some of my labelmates on ZAP Records and then some.
2: I have been training to become a multi-instrumentalist.
Okay, not as much now since I’m not into the music scene as much as I used to be, but this was a huge goal of mine for years. I’m not a maestro by any stretch of the imagination. The instruments I have the most competency in would be ukulele, guitar, turntables/DJ-ing, Omnichord, hand percussion, bass and some keyboards. Don’t expect me to shred like crazy, but I can at least jam with other musicians and do my best to hang with them.
3: I’m a three-time NaNoWriMo winner and a six-time Camp NaNoWriMo winner.
This goes out to all my followers who know I do fiction. I’ve been getting into storytelling over the past three and a half years. 2014 was my first year where I wrote books and where I tried National Novel Writing Month for the first time. It was shocking that I was able to write a 50,000 word novel (roughly 100-110 pages) over the span of thirty days on those Novembers. I tried out Camp NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writing Month’s off season challenges that happen twice a year (April and July). It does feel invigorating trying to write a book in a month’s time. Now, I have to publish my bibliography…
4: I’m a geography nerd.
I love learning about other cultures and countries. It was amazing visiting outside of America for the first time of my life when I was on vacation to Ecuador earlier this year. This international affinity started when I first watched Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego (the game show) when I was a child. That was my favorite show growing up. My love for geography shows since I write multi-ethnic casts for many of my fiction projects and world cinema is one of my specialties when I review movies on Iridium Eye.
5: Speaking of stuff from other countries…Wanna know the first anime I’ve watched?
This one goes out to the anime reviewers that know my blogs. The first anime I’ve ever watched in my life is Teknoman AKA Tekkaman Blade. Yes, this was the edited English dub version, but that was my first exposure to Japanese animation despite me not knowing anything about it when I was in elementary school. This was on UPN Kids back in the day which is a defunct channel as it merged with My Power and Warner to make the CW. I thought it was cool seeing superheroes in metallic suits fighting aliens and stuff.
6: I’ve wanted to be a voice actor, but never got around to it.
Part of it involved me watching a ton of anime during my teen years, but I’ve been good at using different kinds of voices. I’ve been known to do impressions of various movie characters, cartoons, and some random celebrities in front of some of my friends and co-workers as a joke. If you know me, I can come across as dry in my humor, but I can make people laugh whenever I do these imitations of random voices. I’ve had others tell me that I should be hired as a voice actor, do TV announcements, or a radio DJ.
7: What’s in a name?
I’ve always wanted to name either a band or a creative project after a bird (insert Portlandia joke here). The word Osprey came to mind, but I wanted to go beyond that once I started coming up with this current spoken word/anti-pop project on this blog. Suddenly, “-shire” came up in my mind as the definition of a place. Thus, I fused the two words and came up with Ospreyshire as my stage name.
Now that you know a little bit more about me, I want to hear from the following people. Enjoy the nominations!
1: KimchiSama
2: Travel Itineraries
3: Adventures of A New Floridian
4: Tim and Joanne Joseph
5: Girl Goblin
6: Remy Fool
7: Auri
8: Irina
9: Bel
10: Joshua Stamper
-Curtis
My Other Creative Projects: Hollandus Landing (A Cell Phone Novel)
I haven’t posted as much stuff on here besides the Katauta 52 series, but for those of you that don’t follow my other blogs, I’ll drop some extra knowledge for you.
As you may or may not know, I’m also a writer. I have a fiction blog which you can find at http://cmbbwrites.wordpress.com. It would be awesome if you subscribed to it, too. Right now, I’m swamped with Camp NaNoWriMo (a writing competition), but I’ve also been working on a cell phone novel.
This writing project in particular is called Hollandus Landing. It’s a serial story interweaving 40 different characters in this fictional Midwestern city as they live their lives while there’s also a secret that’s buried in the city. Most of the arcs are of the slice-of-life variety, but I use meta-narratives and parallel stories to intersect elements of the real hidden danger with other characters creating various art forms that directly or indirectly involve said secret.
By the way, each chapter is 70-200 words long. You can read some of them on your work break or whatnot. That and I’m over 220 chapters at the time of this post
Check out the first chapter here: https://cmbbwrites.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/hollandus-landing-chapter-1/
Ospreyshire's Realm 